Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Dalton did that?” I ask, breathless as I walk past my mother and the sandalwood carving she purchased in Thailand a few years back.
Her living room is both opulent and minimalist, all gold, beige and brown in pleasant, wavy shapes. Even the chandelier hovering above the coffee table with a view of Central Park is a work of art, consisting of countless light-up shards suspended from the tall ceiling. Mother must have been doing yoga, because she’s still in the tight getup, and her mat is rolled out in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Well, yes. You know he’s been helping me organize so many things.” She beams at me. “What he lacks in wallet contents, he makes up for with enthusiasm.”
He does. Every moment in his company was exciting, whether we cuddled on the sofa, walked, or fucked like intoxicated satyrs. I had him in my life, and now it’s over. I could fool myself and make someone else wear the perfume I composed for him, but it would not be the same.
Just thinking about it, about casting some stranger into the role Dalton fulfilled so perfectly, has me shuddering with cold.
I clear my throat and fold my coat before hanging it over the comically low backrest of my mother’s armchair. It’s best we both settle down before I give her the news. But as soon as I’m in the seat, my gaze meets my Father’s. He looks so serious in the photo hanging on the wall among others where Mother features with family and friends. He’s in a tux, she’s in a wedding dress so puffy it takes up most of the picture, smiling wide as she looks up at him.
Mother’s gaze follows mine, and she finally sits down. “I know,” she says softly. “You wish he could be here for the big day.”
I didn’t plan to laugh, but the bitterness that’s been sitting in my chest since last night comes out in a series of stuttering chuckles. “I don’t know if he would like to see this.”
“I know you and Dad had your differences, but he would have come around.” She says it with such confidence I almost believe it. Not that it matters anymore.
She makes a small, cheery noise and springs to her feet.
“Wait,” she says, as if I came all the way here just to leave after five minutes.
I glance through the huge windows, surveying snow-dusted Manhattan, but she’s back soon and places a gold ring with a large diamond embedded in the band, in the middle of my palm.
“It was your father’s, remember? Dalton still doesn’t have a ring—”
Her words disappear in the frantic thudding in my ears, and when I see my fingers tremble, I close them around the precious trinket, suddenly sick to my stomach. My father would not consider me worthy of this ring.
“No.”
“No?” She blinks, long lashes moving like butterfly wings. “Corvus, please… am I being overbearing? After so many years holding back such a secret, I just want you to be happy. I’m sorry honey, but you’ve been so cheerful since Dalton moved in with you, and I want you two to have everything you might want on your special day—”
No point dragging any of this foolishness out any further.
“Dalton moved out,” I say quickly, because there’s a pressure rising inside me, and even the diffuser attached to the wall sickens me.
Mother cocks her head at me. “I don’t understand…”
I take a deep breath and meet her gaze, because I’m not a coward.
“The wedding is not happening. I fucked up, and he’s gone. I’m sorry I wasted so much of your time.”
Mom gets up and starts pacing in front of the window. I hate causing her so much distress I can literally smell it in the air, but it can’t be helped. “No, Corvus. What could you have possibly done? Dalton’s crazy about you. I’m sure it can be fixed.” She stops and pins me to the seat. “You didn’t cheat on him, did you? I know it can be hard to be faithful for a man as handsome as—”
“No! I—” My mouth feels bitter, as if I’ve just had a whole package of liquorice, but there’s no point keeping up the charade that kept Dalton from drowning. Not in front of Mother. “I lied. I met him just before the hunt, and I decided to keep him, all right? So we’ve only been together three weeks, and here he was, confessing his love, and I figured it must be either a matter of money, or him acting on someone’s behalf, so they can get to me.”
She sucks in her lips as she processes that in silence, and I feel like a bug under a microscope. “And you told him that when he confessed his feelings,” she fills in slowly, then sighs. “You’re just like your father, Corvus. You know, at the beginning of our relationship, he was so paranoid, he got it in his head that I was unfaithful to him. I wasn’t, of course, I was head over heels in love with him. He was so intense, and I fell so fast. But I couldn’t take the suspicion anymore. It can wear you down. When I moved out, he finally took his head out of his ass and saw what he did to our marriage.”